The present invention relates to a towable watercraft, and more particularly to systems and methods for steering a watercraft as the craft is being towed by a moving boat.
Motorboats can tow various kinds of water devices in providing water recreation for users of the devices. In the case of water skis, the water skier normally stands on the skis and holds a tow rope connected to a boat to be pulled forward under the driving force of the boat. The skier can maneuver back and forth across the wake of the boat by weight shifting and tow rope positioning, and thereby achieve greater enjoyment from the water skiing experience. A rider on a towed wakeboard faces similar maneuvering requirements during towing.
However, water skiing or wakeboarding requires use of personal maneuvering skills and places substantial physical demands on the skier or wakeboarder. As a result, the sport of towed water skiing or wakeboarding has somewhat limited participation.
Other types of towable watercraft facilitate wider participation in recreational watercraft towing. For example, aquaplanes, hydrofoils, inflatable watercraft, and the like free the rider from most physical demands with lower skill requirements, but they normally have little or no steering capability.
Water sleds, small boat-like craft, and other types of towable watercraft also typically impose reduced physical demands and reduced maneuvering skill requirements on a rider. Some prior art watercraft of these types have employed some forms of steering control, but such steering has been limited in effectiveness.
In a towable watercraft having a conventional rudder-type steering system, a steering mechanism is operated to pivot one or more rudders thereby producing water forces on the underside of the craft which change the direction in which the craft is moving subject to tow line limits. However, the rudder-type steering system has limited effectiveness due to relatively poor steering power and relatively slow steering response time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,001, entitled TOWED WATERCRAFT AND STEERING METHOD, and issued to J. H. Lemelson on Oct. 31, 1995 discloses an exemplary rudder type steering system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,858, entitled STEERABLE TOWED VEHICLE, and issued to F. M. Casciano on Dec. 1, 1981, discloses another type of steering system in which a control rope is extended to the underside of the vehicle where it is attached to a tow rope used to pull the vehicle. A rider on the vehicle uses a handle to pull or release the control rope, thereby pivoting the tow rope about its point of attachment to the back of the vehicle. The tow rope applies steering forces to the vehicle according to the extent of pivotal movement of the tow rope.
Even if the Casciano system provides some increase in steering response speed relative to rudder-type steering systems, this system operates with little or no mechanical advantage and places significant physical demands on the rider during steering operations.
In view of the state of the prior art, a need exists for a towable watercraft which can be conveniently and effectively steered by a rider substantially without requiring special rider operating skills and without placing objectionable physical demands on the rider.